My philosophy is that it is hard, but not impossible, to beat the market, and that it is easy, and imperative, to save on taxes and money management costs. I graduated from Harvard in 1973 with a degree in linguistics and applied math. I have been a journalist for 40 years, and was editor of Forbes magazine from 1999 to 2010. Tax law is a frequent subject in my articles. I have been an Enrolled Agent since 1979. You can email me at --williambaldwinfinance -- at -- gmail -- dot -- com.

Paying for College: Qualifying for In-State Tuition

Penny and Kenneth Jobe, long-time residents of Pennsylvania, moved to North Carolina when their kids were in high school. North Carolina, they decided, had better public colleges at lower costs than Pennsylvania. Son Seth, 27, and daughter Chelsea, 24, both graduated from UNC Greensboro, at a combined savings of $20,000 versus what the family would have spent at comparable Pennsylvania colleges.

This was an unusual couple in having combined luck with the job market. Penny, a grant-writing consultant to educators, started the process when she got a nice job offer in the new state. Her husband, who has a career wholesaling electrical goods, took a chance when he told her to take the faraway job. He stayed behind in Pennsylvania while Seth finished high school, then looked for a similar job in North Carolina. It took him a day to find a new employer. He’s still with that company.

University of Texas

Would you move just to take advantage of a state university? No, but a great school might tip the balance in favor of a job transfer. Fred C. Beach spent much of his career in Florida on assignments around the world for the Navy, then made a switch into research on energy policy. He took a job in Austin, Tex. in part because the state university there is so strong—and there’s a huge cost advantage to residents.

The University of Texas at Austin knocks approximately $24,000 a year (the amount varies with major) off the tuition bill for Texas residents. Beach has two daughters in high school. If they both go to UT Austin the potential savings for the family come to $196,000.

Will they get in? Probably; the older one is ranked first in her high school class. Will they be willing to stay so close to home? Beach has told his offspring that he will cover the room and board for college, but they will have to come up with the tuition. That will give them a powerful incentive to go to UT if they can’t get merit scholarships elsewhere.

If you are planning a move when offspring are in high school, check out the target state’s rules, which can be tricky. A typical minimum residency is 12 months before classes start.

Think, too, about the noneconomic aspects of transferring, warns Ken Jobe. His daughter was midway through high school when the family moved, taking her away from her friends. The social adjustment was not easy.

Here’s another case of a successful tuition-motivated move. The parents of a writer I know divorced when he was young. He grew up with his mother on the East Coast. His dad lived in California. He wanted to go to Berkeley. So he moved in with his father for senior year of high school. He got in, and landed a first-rate education at a bargain price.

Some states partipate in regional tuition-sparing leagues: Citizens of State X get in-state or partly reduced tuition at the university of State Y, and vice versa. There’s more explanation in this article by college counselor Nancy Griesemer.

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